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what was the fur trade?
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Early in the 19th century the fur trade brought Indian and white trappers from the east into the Columbia Plateau country, particularly to the woods of the northern Plateau. This vast exploration and movement of people was caused by the fashion in England for top hats - a hat that could best be made from felt created by using the dense under-fir of the beaver.
It was not the fur itself that was used. The short fibers of the beaver's pelt were stripped from the beaverskin, and used to make a kind of felt that was both durable, watertight and would hold it's shape. Although other fibers were used to make low-cost hats, the best hats were made with felt made from the expensive beaver's pelt.
Although wealthy gentlemen no longer wear hats made from the beaver's pelt, beaver is still used in the finest Stetsons, or cowboy hats. A good beaver cowboy hat can easily cost $400 or more. They are sold over the Internet.
The trappers in the 19th century, many of the French, liked the native people. In many cases they lived with them, married them and adopted their ways. The trappers and traders depended on the natives - they did not intend to displace them.
It seems strange that this area of North America was originally mapped and explored primarily to satisfy a fashion whim of rich Europeans. It was because of fashion that the famous Hudson's Bay Company made money and prospered across North America.
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